Various proposals have been made for a flavor inhaler provided with a carbon heat source and configured to heat a flavor generating source by the heat generated by the carbon heat source.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a flavor inhaler having a carbon heat source provided with a ridge groove on an ignition surface (an end face on an ignition side) across the ignition surface for improving ignitability.
Patent literature 2 discloses a flavor inhaler having a columnar carbon heat source that is provided with a through-hole with a diameter of 1.5 mm to 3 mm.
A carbon heat source used in a flavor inhaler preferably satisfies the following conditions.
The first condition is to provide good ignitability and sufficient heat in a period from a start of burning to an initial puff (smoking).
The second condition is to supply a stable amount of heat with less fluctuation in calorific value in a period of middle to late of a puff (smoking).
The carbon heat source disclosed in the Patent Literature 1 can improve the ignitability in the period from the start of burning to the initial puff by the groove provided on the ignition surface. However, it merely increases a contact area of an ignition source such as a lighter and an ignition end portion, and an air flow path is not configured to transmit heat efficiently to the ignition end portion in the period from the start of burning to the initial puff. Thus, the effect is insufficient.
Further, the carbon heat source disclosed in the Patent Literature 1 is assumed to be used in a flavor inhaler configured to transmit the heat generated by a carbon heat source to a flavor generating source via an enclosing member or a holding member of the carbon heat source. Thus, when used in a flavor inhaler configured to transmit the heat generated by a carbon heat source to a flavor generating source mainly by convection heat transfer, there is a problem that the supply of stable amount of heat is difficult in the period of middle to late of the puff (smoking).
The carbon heat source disclosed in the Patent Literature 2 has a uniform circular column shape over the entire length, that is, a groove or the like is not provided on an ignition surface. Thus, there is a problem that efficient heat transfer to an ignition surface is difficult in an ignition source such as a commercially available lighter or the like, and good ignitability is difficult in a period from a start of burning to an initial puff.
In a conventional integrally molded carbon heat source as disclosed in the Patent Literatures 1 and 2, it is very difficult to achieve both good ignitability in a period from a start of burning to an initial puff and supply of stable amount of heat in a period of middle to late of a puff (smoking).